I played a Kamaka today

mds725

mds725

UU VIP
UU VIP
Joined
Oct 12, 2009
Messages
12,337
Reaction score
232
Location
San Francisco CA USA
Today I played a Kamaka for the first time. It was a concert Kamaka being sold at Noe Valley Music in San Francisco (875 USD). That thing made some beautiful sounds! I promised myself that I would buy a K brand ukulele, but not until I played long enough and well enough to appreciate the difference between the K brands and less expensive ukuleles. (My current most expensive ukulele is a Big Island Honu traditional tenor.) Well, now I have to keep that promise! I will say this -- the YouTube videos I've seen of Kamakas (and this is probably true of other K brands as well) don't even begin to sound as nice as this ukulele sounded live.
 
mds725 said:
Today I played a Kamaka for the first time. It was a concert Kamaka being sold at Noe Valley Music in San Francisco (875 USD). That thing made some beautiful sounds! I promised myself that I would buy a K brand ukulele, but not until I played long enough and well enough to appreciate the difference between the K brands and less expensive ukuleles. (My current most expensive ukulele is a Big Island Honu traditional tenor.) Well, now I have to keep that promise! I will say this -- the YouTube videos I've seen of Kamakas (and this is probably true of other K brands as well) don't even begin to sound as nice as this ukulele sounded live.
Click to expand...

I think I need to make this into a document that I can copy paste. There is absolutely no reason why you should not treat yourself to the best instrument possible. It will sound amazing, it will inspire you to play more, you will learn quicker and you will appreciate the instrument more.

And yeah, audio recordings can be tough to judge by, its so easy to get bad recordings with all the devices that have saturated our houses that have cheap components or are not designed to record audio.
 
Dane said:
I think I need to make this into a document that I can copy paste. There is absolutely no reason why you should not treat yourself to the best instrument possible. It will sound amazing, it will inspire you to play more, you will learn quicker and you will appreciate the instrument more.
Click to expand...

I agree 100% - this is so true. And, when you own your own Kamaka, you can change out the stock strings (which I think, and a lot of UUers seem to agree, are inferior) and put some *good* strings on and you will be amazed all over again!

And, you're lucky to be able to play one in person before buying. I've bought two Kamakas on eBay and both have been great, but I've played others that I was underwhelmed by.
 
I just came back from the big island. I was also checking out the Kamaka Concert, I stopped by the music exchange and Hilo Guitars and ukes. Both stores were selling for $699 and 4.5% tax. They also mentioned the prices will be going up really soon. I didn't pull the trigger because of other priorities.
 
And to be honest, I'm a little insulted, if you have the opportunity to play and buy a very-nice instrument you should, because I can't, so do it for the other ukers ;)
 
I agree with Dane completely. I constantly read that people have bought a 'starter' instrument. And everyone talks about buying young people something cheap until they decide if they are actually serious about playing. The best way to kill someone's interest, whether adult or youth, is to play something that sounds bad or is difficult to play. Buy the best that you can afford right from the start. Usually waiting until you are more accomplished means waiting a lot longer than you would have if you had bought that quality instrument from the very beginning. A good player can compensate for a difficult or poor sounding instrument but, a beginner will struggle mightily. Besides, you can resell that nice instrument much easier if you decide it just wasn't your thing.

The only ukulele I had heard until 5 months ago was Tiny Tim in the 60's. But I was at a festival and found a great sounding instrument and bought it. When I pull it out of the case, I want to play it because it looks and sounds so nice.

Hmmm. We sound like a bunch of women in the shoe department at Nordstrom.
 
Dane said:
And to be honest, I'm a little insulted, if you have the opportunity to play and buy a very-nice instrument you should, because I can't, so do it for the other ukers ;)
Click to expand...

Right now I'm one of those people who doesn't really have the opportunity to buy (not enough cash; still saving up). But my hope is to go to Hawaii early in 2011, run in the Aloha Run in Honolulu, and buy a Kamaka tenor. I loved the concert I played today (it was also incredibly beautiful wood), but I prefer tenor scale. If the uke I played today had been a tenor, I might not have been able to keep from pulling the trigger on it.
 
mds725 said:
Right now I'm one of those people who doesn't really have the opportunity to buy (not enough cash; still saving up). But my hope is to go to Hawaii early in 2011, run in the Aloha Run in Honolulu, and buy a Kamaka tenor. I loved the concert I played today (it was also incredibly beautiful wood), but I prefer tenor scale. If the uke I played today had been a tenor, I might not have been able to keep from pulling the trigger on it.
Click to expand...

Ok you are forgiven. Ohhh man you'll have fun if you're runnin around hawaii lookin for "the" ukulele that you want, I hope I can go to hawaii again one day, now that I play ukulele. And tenor is best ;) (wait for the soprano mob to come throw rocks at me)
 
Dane said:
Ok you are forgiven. Ohhh man you'll have fun if you're runnin around hawaii lookin for "the" ukulele that you want, I hope I can go to hawaii again one day, now that I play ukulele. And tenor is best ;) (wait for the soprano mob to come throw rocks at me)
Click to expand...

eugene reads Dane's post #8, runs out into garden, finds large, juicy rock and hurls in general direction of the great land of amerikay...:p
 
Dane said:
It landed in the ocean, maybe next time ;) Someday I plan to visit Australia, maybe we can uke battle it out =)
Click to expand...

aahhh, the ol' arms aren't as strong as they used to be mate( come to think of it, my whole body aint what it used to be brother)!!!

a uke-off??? Nice idea...we could do the sopranino v tenor scenario... I see it panning out something like the David and Goliath battle... :eek:

cheers Dane!!!
 
eugene ukulele said:
aahhh, the ol' arms aren't as strong as they used to be mate( come to think of it, my whole body aint what it used to be brother)!!!

a uke-off??? Nice idea...we could do the sopranino v tenor scenario... I see it panning out something like the David and Goliath battle... :eek:

cheers Dane!!!
Click to expand...

Or an old western style standoff, slinging the ukes off our backs.

Anyways back on topic, I have long been lusting after a kamaka tenor, I love everything about them, especially how simplistic they are and how beautiful their grain always seems to be. Someday I will have one, and that day I will rule the world... at least for a few seconds.
 
Dane said:
Or an old western style standoff, slinging the ukes off our backs.

Anyways back on topic, I have long been lusting after a kamaka tenor, I love everything about them, especially how simplistic they are and how beautiful their grain always seems to be. Someday I will have one, and that day I will rule the world... at least for a few seconds.
Click to expand...

You know, you can play some K brand ukes if you know the right people in town. I've got KoAlohas and I know a few people that sometimes show up at the harbor with Kamakas and Martins. :)
 
misterpk said:
You know, you can play some K brand ukes if you know the right people in town. I've got KoAlohas and I know a few people that sometimes show up at the harbor with Kamakas and Martins. :)
Click to expand...

Looks like I need to start going to the harbor so I can exploit people and use their ukuleles.
 
I think it does help to get a nice uke...I had a relatively cheap uke and I liked it but then I got my KoAloha and now I cant set it down! At the time I really didn't understand how nice that uke is...
 
Well - I do agree you should get the best possible uke. I bought my daughter a Lanikai LU11 and even though now she's gotten much better, she won't hear of me getting a better model for her.

So see, you better get that Kamaka now before you get emotionally attached to what you're playing and won't hear of anything else. ;)
 
mds725 said:
Right now I'm one of those people who doesn't really have the opportunity to buy (not enough cash; still saving up). But my hope is to go to Hawaii early in 2011, run in the Aloha Run in Honolulu, and buy a Kamaka tenor. I loved the concert I played today (it was also incredibly beautiful wood), but I prefer tenor scale. If the uke I played today had been a tenor, I might not have been able to keep from pulling the trigger on it.
Click to expand...

How nice that you'll be able to go to Hawaii and pick out a Kamaka tenor! My soprano Kamaka was picked out and sent to me by Sam at Larry's Music. My concert I got just recently from Artisan Guitars. Love them both but would've liked to be able to pick them out from many as you will be able to do.
 
mds725 said:
Today I played a Kamaka for the first time. It was a concert Kamaka being sold at Noe Valley Music in San Francisco (875 USD). That thing made some beautiful sounds! I promised myself that I would buy a K brand ukulele, but not until I played long enough and well enough to appreciate the difference between the K brands and less expensive ukuleles. (My current most expensive ukulele is a Big Island Honu traditional tenor.) Well, now I have to keep that promise! I will say this -- the YouTube videos I've seen of Kamakas (and this is probably true of other K brands as well) don't even begin to sound as nice as this ukulele sounded live.
Click to expand...

There is no reason to wait! Seriously, if you have the money to buy it, buy it now. The price isn't going to go down. You're not going to "ruin it" by playing it before you're an expert. You will learn faster, and be inclined to practice longer, on a really nice instrument, etc., etc.

People keep getting this whole thing backwards. You see people on Craig's list and eBay advertising cheap (and often inferior) instruments as "perfect for beginners" all the time. NO! The perfect instrument for a beginner is the very best instrument you can afford to put in his or her hands. Old pros can play any old piece of junk and make it sound decent - beginners are often easily discouraged because they can't make sweet music and they mistakenly think they are the problem when the real problem is an instrument that is nearly unplayable!

Buying an entry level instrument, then a little better instrument, then a little better, then finally your dream is an extremely expensive mistake. Obviously, in some cases it's the only practical path if you just don't have the money to spare for a better instrument or you aren't sure you're going to stick with it. But, if you know you're sticking with it, buy the best instrument you can afford, then never look back.

Okay, I'll climb down off my soap box now... :)

John
 
OldePhart said:
There is no reason to wait! Seriously, if you have the money to buy it, buy it now. The price isn't going to go down. You're not going to "ruin it" by playing it before you're an expert. You will learn faster, and be inclined to practice longer, on a really nice instrument, etc., etc.

People keep getting this whole thing backwards. You see people on Craig's list and eBay advertising cheap (and often inferior) instruments as "perfect for beginners" all the time. NO! The perfect instrument for a beginner is the very best instrument you can afford to put in his or her hands. Old pros can play any old piece of junk and make it sound decent - beginners are often easily discouraged because they can't make sweet music and they mistakenly think they are the problem when the real problem is an instrument that is nearly unplayable!

Buying an entry level instrument, then a little better instrument, then a little better, then finally your dream is an extremely expensive mistake. Obviously, in some cases it's the only practical path if you just don't have the money to spare for a better instrument or you aren't sure you're going to stick with it. But, if you know you're sticking with it, buy the best instrument you can afford, then never look back.

Okay, I'll climb down off my soap box now... :)

John
Click to expand...

I totally agree with this. My best custom ukuleles are also the easiest playing ukuleles I have. For a beginning player there's no doubt that the high-end instruments will make learning and playing much easier and more enjoyable than a low-end instrument. The only thing is that usually beginners aren't sure if they're committed to playing the ukulele and therefore it doesn't make sense to commit big money to a great instrument. But the moment you realize you're committed to the uke, go shop for the best uke you can afford.
 
GX9901 said:
For a beginning player there's no doubt that the high-end instruments will make learning and playing much easier and more enjoyable than a low-end instrument. The only thing is that usually beginners aren't sure if they're committed to playing the ukulele and therefore it doesn't make sense to commit big money to a great instrument. But the moment you realize you're committed to the uke, go shop for the best uke you can afford.
Click to expand...

I totally agree.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

C
Who's not played a Kamaka soprano?
2
Replies
34
Views
1K
ploverwing
ploverwing
K
  • Locked
Kamaka 4 String Tenor Premium Curly Koa Ukulele. 2004 - barely played - looks new.
Replies
9
Views
3K
kawikasurf
K
L
Played a Kamaka HF-3
Replies
14
Views
829
molokinirum
molokinirum
iDavid
Finally played a Kamaka
Replies
14
Views
2K
Michael_
Michael_
wickedwahine11
Kamaka uke played on next week's Glee
2
Replies
30
Views
6K
Ukulele JJ
Ukulele JJ
Top Bottom